# What is your opinion on non-briar pipe?



## Kenny_Jo (Dec 14, 2011)

I know that there is many pipe made of non-briar wood (or sometimes not even wood).
What is your opinion on those kinds of pipes?
Are they worth a try or just junk?

I hope experts can come and say something so that the newbies like me can have a better understanding of those pipes.

Thanks.

Here are the materials I find more command in making pipes.
Cherry
Rosewood
Clay
Meerschaum


----------



## karatekyle (Nov 2, 2010)

Had a cherry wood pipe one time. It was garbage, but more likely because of the poor workmanship. Same with a rosewood.

Meers and clays though have stood the test of time.


----------



## Fuzzy (Jun 19, 2011)

I had a cherry wood pipe that smoked well after it was broke in. Probably smoked it a couple times a month for about six years until I set it down somewhere and lost it.


----------



## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Some rate meerschaum the best smoke. Maybe so. It would be hard to vote against meerschaum, although I don't even have one. I had one once that I really liked, though. Had a cherry pipe once, too.. clunky , so never smoked it enough to break it in. They say olive wood makes a good pipe. Then there are the morta (bog wood) pipes -- just beautiful! Clay is a great smoke, but the bowl gets really hot and they are extremely fragile -- and not particularly pretty. I'd imagine rosewood would work. Briar is really nice, though.


----------



## Kenny_Jo (Dec 14, 2011)

Thanks.

For the Cherry and Rosewood, the information I find from the internet is very extreme.
While some people said they are all junk pipes and we should stay away from them, 
some other may mention they are as good as (I remember one even say better than) briar and the only thing it require is a good "breaking in" (assuming it came with good construction).

For the Clay, the only thing I find is they are not bad but getting a little too hot while smoking.

For the Meerschaum, many positive post about them. 
A lot of people think they are very good as long as you can get one made from block meerschaum (not pressed).
Some claimed that Meerschaum are expensive because of the increasing cost of block meerschaum and the need of good crafting job.
But some of the meerschaum pipe I find on ebay is... priced too cheap to be real (although they mentioned that those are made from meerschaum)?


----------



## TanZ2005 (Jun 25, 2006)

Meerschaum I think is more then just a Pipe really. For me it is a work of Art, Then there is the way they are made that has made me just LOVE them. I have one in Storage that I fell in love with. I have it there to help keep me away from it. I smoked it about 10 times I would guess, was very nice. One of the things that I like about buying the Meerschaum pipe new is you can pick if you want it white, yellow or even darker to give it an older look. I have seen some Clay pipes of Old, only had one about 10 years ago, I wasn't really happy with it so gifted it to a person I knew back then that had like 20 pipes that he displayed so I thought it would look better on his shelf. Other then that I have only a few other pipes they are all Briar. 

James

Edit: Main reason I got rid of the Clay pipe was do to the heat and the size of bowl.


----------



## bandlwalmer (Jun 25, 2010)

Well, I don't know much about the ones you listed, but I smoke mostly cob pipes from Missouri Meerschaum. Hard to beat a pipe that smokes great and costs less than $10. I know many people consider them cheap throw away pipes, but if cared for they can last a long time. They also provide a really nice smoke that many briars can't match. If you are looking for a wuality pipe, don't over look cobs!!!!


----------



## Andrewdk (Feb 3, 2011)

One thing you will find with pipes, as with many things, is that there are many people that will love one type and just as many that hate it. The main thing is that the wood is not toxic and the construction is good. I've seen the cheapie meerschaum pipes on ebay too and I suspect the price is such because they are either small mini pipes and/or made from pressed or reformed meerschaum.

If on ebay always go for a long standing seller with min 95% of feedback particularly relating to pipes, the odd seller will show up with bargain pipes that has never dealt in pipes before. I espeically get a touch suspicious when they're using obviously copied from a long established seller. If in doubt about a seller or vendor, post a thread to see if anyone has any experience with the seller or if the pipe is the genuine article, pipers don't like to see other pipers ripped off.


----------



## gahdzila (Apr 29, 2010)

I started out with corncob pipes. I like the way they smoke so much that the only reason I even considered buying a briar was to have something nice looking (or at least BETTER looking LOL) to smoke in public. Cobs are fantastic smokers.

I'll be the voice of dissention on clays - I like them a lot, actually. No, you won't have a good outcome if you throw them against a brick wall. But IMO they're actually more bulletproof than other pipes in some ways. I've got an 8 inch clay tavern that smokes fantastically no matter what I throw at it. The bowl LOOKS small, but it holds a surprisingly large amount of tobacco. The bowl gets hot, of course, but the smoke is always cool and dry. My 7 inch Dutch Gouda clay isn't quite as forgiving (it will smoke a little hot if I abuse it), but it's a great pipe as well. I also own a LePeltier, which I love. The LePeltier does have a small bowl, but it doesn't mind at all if you smoke two or three bowls back-to-back.


----------



## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

gahdzila said:


> I'll be the voice of dissention on clays - I like them a lot, actually.


I'd like to be able to smoke a clay, but I can't figure out how. The way the draught hole flutes into the bowl on mine, it makes a funnel so that any scrap of tobacco at the bottom of the bowl immediately blocks the airway. Even trying to fold and stuff or musketball, it seems a little scrap always falls into the bottom and that's the end of any hopes for smoking it. I've managed a few bowls with taking a few puffs, push the pipe cleaner down, two more puffs, pipe cleaner, puff, pipe cleaner...but it's just a lot of work. I've thought about getting one of those little screens for the bottom, but I don't think I'd like that.

As for cobs, I smoke cobs a lot, especially when I'm out and about.


----------



## Savvy (Jun 23, 2007)

I have a few non-briar pipes. Definitely not something to shy away from if you find one that catches your eye. Cobs of course are a nice outdoors pipe if you're doing work and don't want to risk possibly ruining a nice briar. Cobs are also nice in that they don't ghost and can usually be smoked again after they've cooled down. Meerschaum pipes also have a lot of the same qualities as cobs, but are much more fragile. Also if you look at a meer, make sure it is made from block meerschaum instead of a pressed meerschaum. The quality is just much better. I have a few morta pipes as well. I just wanted to try them as something different. They smoke fantastically cool, and a sandblasted morta is just stunning to look at and hold. Definitely take a look at those (but they can be quite pricey as morta is extremely hard to work with--many flaws in the wood, chews up sandpaper like nothing). Another medium I'm considering looking at myself is Olive wood pipes. The graining on them is very interesting, and I know a lot of people that are happy with theirs. So, with that said, just because it's not a briar doesn't mean its not worth taking a look at. Hope you find something you enjoy, briar or not. And welcome to the world of pipes.


----------



## Kenny_Jo (Dec 14, 2011)

Thanks everyone.

Okay.. For the information I have so far (both from you guys and internet). 
I have the following conclusion (Correct me if I am wrong!!).

Non-Briar wood:
Can be either good or bad, depending on the construction and a good "breaking in".
Can get too hot sometimes since the wood is not that heat-isolate. 

Meerschaum:
Only block meerschaum made good pipe. Can be tell by great crafting job because press meerschaum cannot have complicated crafting.
Better crafting makes it more expensive but don't use that as the only concern since meerschaum is a great pipe as well as a piece of art.
Need to handle with care and clean hands!!

Clay:
Can be consider as an defensive weapon, good for pipe smoker who need to go home alone in the dark!! Just kidding (Clay pipe is hard but also brittle).. But the clay pipe does suffer abuse (some mistakes like burnout) more stoically than other pipe.
Get really hot when smoking, other than that, a very good choice for smoking pipe.

Cob:
Easy to handle and cheap, great for beginner.


----------



## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Kenny_Jo said:


> Thanks everyone.
> 
> Clay:
> Can be consider as an defensive weapon, good for pipe smoker who need to go home alone in the dark!! (just kidding.. *But the pipe is hard and difficult to break.*)
> Get really hot when smoking, other than that, a very good choice for smoking pipe.


You take excellent notes! :tu I think you misunderstood about clay, however -- it's very EASY to break a clay. They are extremely thin-walled pottery. Think of a porcelain vase that has walls only 1mm thick.


----------



## gahdzila (Apr 29, 2010)

Yeah, I probably wasn't clear enough in my post. Clays are very fragile if you drop them. But they're more forgiving than other media in that it's impossible to burn out a clay! Clays smoke dryer than other media. They also do not ghost. And they need no rest between smokes other than just a minute or two to cool.


----------



## Kenny_Jo (Dec 14, 2011)

freestoke said:


> You take excellent notes! :tu I think you misunderstood about clay, however -- it's very EASY to break a clay. They are extremely thin-walled pottery. Think of a porcelain vase that has walls only 1mm thick.


Oh.. I did not make my point clear enough..
I was trying to mean something else... but obviously the joke made my main idea unclear..

Actually can I draw another conclusion that clay and meerschaum are actually more suitable to new pipe smokers?
They need no "breaking in", and quite impossible to burnout (easier to handle and maintain).
The only thing we need to keep in mind is "don't try to test how hard they are".


----------



## mmiller (Nov 17, 2011)

Kenny_Jo said:


> Oh.. I did not make my point clear enough..
> I was trying to mean something else... but obviously the joke made my main idea unclear..
> 
> Actually can I draw another conclusion that clay and meerschaum are actually more suitable to new pipe smokers?
> ...


That could be true in some ways, the thing about meerschaum is people want to try and color them evenly so they only handle them by the stem, I personally dont care if it colors evenly so I handle it like a normal pipe. Clay can sometimes bubble tar through so you would need to clean the outside once in a while and I dont think they would make good clenchers either. For a beginner it would also be ideal to start with a briar or a cob pipe because you will be able to learn how to smoke a pipe cool enough to prevent burnouts because later on in life it is possible you will get a nice briar pipe.


----------



## Mister Moo (Sep 8, 2005)

bandlwalmer said:


> Well, I don't know much about the ones you listed, but I smoke mostly cob pipes from Missouri Meerschaum. Hard to beat a pipe that smokes great and costs less than $10. I know many people consider them cheap throw away pipes, but if cared for they can last a long time. They also provide a really nice smoke that many briars can't match. If you are looking for a wuality pipe, don't over look cobs!!!!


+1 on corncobs.

I've been smoking a MM General ($8.95) almost every day since Thanksgiving and the rascal is a stellar pipe equal to my best briars. I've also used a MM Country Gentleman at least once a week for the last year (thanks, secret Santa) graced with a MM freehand stem - same remarkable smoking quality.

Meerschaum as material is fantastic for pipes, IMO. I typically smoke any tobacco that's new to me in a clean meer first as a way to get a clear flavor snapshot. I generally smoke a meer or two (or three) the last week of each month so, it's fair to say, about 20-25% of my puffing goes through clay. Meer as material, however, isn't as critical as meer in execution. A badly executed meerschaum pipe is going to be a nuisance and a waste of money. While I can't tell the smoking difference between pressed meer and block meer, I can tell bad geometery from good geometry; it's more pronounced than in briar. A badly executed small or medium sized meer with a classic restricted airway will gurgle itself to death; a well made meer, larger and with a 4mm open draw and good chamber shape, can be the practically perfect pipe and, thus, pipe material.

I think the other woods you mentioned (plus maple, pear and a couple more) are materials of local convenience, novelty or lowest cost more than anything else. You can make work gloves out of used rags or grain leather. If you had the leather option, why use the rags? Know what I mean, Vern?


----------

